Overview

• Mortgage News Daily put the 30-year fixed average near 6.29%, the lowest since October 2024 after the biggest one-day slide in more than a year.
• U.S. unemployment rose to 4.3% with just 22,000 jobs added in August, prompting bond buying that dragged 10-year Treasury yields—and mortgage rates—lower.
• Traders now assign roughly an 89% probability to a quarter-point Fed rate cut on Sept. 17, with a smaller chance of a larger move and expectations for additional easing later this year.
• Analysts caution that fixed mortgage rates track long-dated bond yields and broader forces, so they may not fall in step with Fed policy and have at times risen during prior cutting cycles.
• Borrowers can lower costs by improving credit scores, increasing down payments, or considering adjustable-rate loans, with a 7/6 ARM recently around 5.59%.